Justice News

Man Sentenced For Making Threatening Communications

A man who made hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, emails, and other communications to Allamakee County, Iowa, judges, law enforcement officers, court employees, and others, was sentenced in federal court in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, April 16, 2013.

Kenneth Haag, age 27, from Lansing, Iowa, was sentenced to serve 33 months in federal prison after having pleaded guilty on January 25, 2013, to one count of threatening, via an interstate telephone call, to injure another person.

Haag was sentenced in federal court in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Haag was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release following completion of his term of imprisonment. While on supervised release, Haag will be prohibited from consuming alcohol or entering bars, taverns, or other establishments whose primary source of income is derived from the sale of alcohol. Haag will also be required to participate in mental health counseling or treatment; complete a program of substance abuse testing and treatment; and not have any direct or indirect contact with the victims of his criminal conduct.

In sentencing Haag, Judge Reade noted the threats he made were “particularly frightening” and not simply a “nuisance.” The court noted Haag sent hundreds of communications, and the communications were “very goal-directed” in that Haag was seeking redress for what he perceived to be prior wrongful criminal convictions. Evidence presented at the hearing showed many of the communications made by Haag were directed to judges, law enforcement officers, or to the victim involved in a 2004 Allamakee County criminal case against Haag that resulted in Haag pleading guilty to the crimes of criminal trespass and assault on a peace officer.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard L. Murphy and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 12-1001.